I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and truly commit to just be kinder, nicer people. To strangers, to friends, to family. To come to the understanding that first-world-problems are exactly that, and to remember the simple things – and what’s important.

I have a dream that one day we’ll stop being judged by the demographics that make up our personnel file, and more for the people we are, the ideas we have the courage to share and the dreams we achieve.

I have a dream that my future child will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by what he wears, what his beliefs are, or who he affliates with – but by the constitution of his thoughts and the goodness of his being.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day, we can reconcile as a nation to be proud of being an American not only when a tragedy strikes us, but every day. To believe in our ability to change our nation for the better as citizens, not just laying responsibility on a government.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every person in the United States, who wants one, will have a roof over their head. It’s 2013 – if we can carry 5,000 songs in our pockets, land on the moon, and are gaining answers to the toughest answers in healthcare – we can surely have everyone a warm home for the winter, and a place to be cooled in the summer – AC units and winter coats should not be the thin line between life and death.

This is my hope.

This will be the day when all of God’s children have a way to get to college, or further their education, however they want to, without being burdened by financial debt the second they step back into the workforce. Surely we’re missing out on some of the greatest minds of tomorrow by tying their hands back with a lack of financial help for those who aren’t poverty-stricken poor, but in families who just make “enough” to float without a college tuition bill.

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. Let freedom ring from the hallowed ground of the 9-11 Memorial. Let freedom ring from Columbine, Sandy Hook and the many schools rocked with horrific crimes against innocent children and workers.

And to end solidly, I’ll keep the words that mark this day the 50th anniversary of MLK’s own dream.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”